Insurance Claim1

Do you know what Librarians do all day?  Heck, do most Librarians know what they're going to do day by day?   Like most days, I plan to do a whole bunch of things and then actually only get to a couple things.   Like today.  I was going to write a few letters, call a few people, finish up a report, get ready for a presentation - and then the tow truck guy showed up. See, our Library owns the lot next to our law library and it is a private lot for which we sell monthly and daily parking passes.  Each parking spot can be rented for $60 per month (or $8 per day).   That sounds like a lot but in downtown Riverside (where we are located), but that's pretty competitive.   Anyway, if you happen to park in our lot and you don't have a permit hanging on your rear-view mirror (or a daily parking pass on your dash), you can, and will, be towed and I'm probably the guy that's going to have to effectuate that tow.  I really don't like doing it bu...

Once upon a time I was in the market for some hiking boots. At the time, I didn't have a clue about what to buy (or not buy), what boots were made of, or that there are different boots for different occasions.  So, to a hiking boutique I went.  I picked this particular boutique because it held itself out as having particular knowledge on the subject of hiking apparel. After trying on a few pairs, the salesguy suggested I try/buy one particular pair.  They were all leather (in that they were all one piece of leather - no stitching at all).  Just one huge piece of leather molded around a bottom sole and each boot was little over 2.5 pounds each.  The salesguy (who was much more knowledgeable about hiking boot than I was) said these would last forever.  All I had to to was "break them in." Do you know what it takes to "break-in" a pair of new hiking boots?  It takes a lot of hiking.  LOTS and lots of it.  Well, on my very first hike up Mo...

Do you find satisfaction at work?   Do you like what you do? Have you ever thought, while sitting in your cubicle that you had found the perfect job? As a law Librarian, those thoughts have crossed my mind.  I mean, dig my gig, I do.  I really get into helping people find answers to funky legal questions.  Problem is that sometimes the answer to the question is not what is wanted.  When that happens, hell hath no fury. Take, for instance the lady who came in the other day.  Seems lady had sued for a sum of money in small claims court a while back - and she won! Drunk with success, lady waited a few years and decided to roll the dice again and file the same lawsuit against the same parties in a higher court (so she could get more money).  Imagine lady's chagrin when the defendant's serve her with a motion for demurrer  declaring that she can't sue them again for the same thing. She is floored and wants to know how to get a...

Have you ever had the experience that you really, REALLY wanted to get away from someone? Maybe it was an ex spouse or boy/girlfriend. Maybe it is/was a former employer. Maybe it was a family member that just really rubbed you wrong and you're now just sick of dealing with him/her. As it turns out, today's story is just like that.  Seems this guy came into my library a while back.  Seems he was getting married in a short while.   The persoalan was that while Guy was infatuated with his soon-to-be wife, his dad was not.  In fact, dad had been bad-mouthing his soon-to-be wife so much that Guy was just sick of dad and wanted to be free of him. This brings us to our word of the month: Ex Continenti .  According to Black's Law Dictionary, Ex Continenti  means: [Latin] Civil law.  Immediately; without any interval or delay. I like it - short and to the point - which is what Guy was looking to do (be rid of dad without delay).  I mean guy ...

The other day I got notice that I HAD to report for jury duty.  Funny thing, that word "duty."  The court makes it sound like it's voluntary.  However, if you don't show up, you get tossed in jail - so how voluntary is that?!   I suspect it goes back to the days of indentured servitude where you were not a slave, persay, but you were still beholding to someone for paying your way over the Atlantic (so, you were less than a slave and were often treated worse). Thing is, I really don't like having to do something.  For example, the wife says, "Take out the garbage" or "Empty the dishwasher."   Yeah, I'll get to it eventually but what she's really saying is, "Take out the garbage.... NOW! "  Not when you want to do it, but NOW (as in right the @&#%!# NOW!!! ). It's more of a demand than a request and if I do it when I want to there will be hell to pay (eventually). This was all brought to my mind when a Guy...

You know how somethings come at you in life that you never saw coming?  I mean right upside the head it smacks you and there is nothing to prepare you for that moment.  You can't practice for it or rehearse and there are no do-overs.  You are either ready to deal with the situation or not. A few years back, I had that experience when I was in a bank robbery.  Laying face down with a Glock to the back of my head, I can still remember the feeling that in mere moments, life for me would end.  I remember the young lady laying across from me was crying that she would not see her daughter again.   I have often reflected back on that scenario and thought how I could have been better prepared and have come to the conclusion that I could not.  I am what I am and the best I can do is get ready for the next cataclysmic event, whatever that may be. Such was the thoughts going through my mind when a young-ish guy came into the library.  Guy had th...

As the old saying goes, " If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything. " A few days back, I picked up the LA Times to read an article: " Friend says he and Manafort were criminals " wherein Richard Gates testified that he and Paul Manafort (former Trump Campaign Manager) had engaged in criminal activities.  Note: The testimony was that Gates and Manafort conducted criminal activities - not Trump (which goes back to the Judge's comment a while back that this case against Manafort was a witch hunt and not a drive to arrive at justice. I hadn't gotten past the 4th paragraph when the word "TORTURE" popped in my head.  I mean, why would anyone admit to having committed criminal activity in a Federal case unless they were being coerced into confessing?  Or course, this brings us to the concept of "torture."  See, at least twice weekly, I have someone come into my library who has committed some kind of felony (t...